Door opens for developers on large Napier Hill site

Tuesday, 28 January 2020

Real Estate company Bayleys is selling the 2.6 hectare block of land on Napier Hill on behalf of NZ PropCo, which bought the land from Todd Property Group in 2019.

It's a site which has sat empty for years, but the remainder of the old hospital site on Napier Hill is hitting the market once again.

The 2.6 hectare property, originally owned by Todd Property Group, was sold to Templeton Group last year after work on the site halted.

Real estate company Bayleys has taken the site under its wing, which will be marketed by directors Kerry Geange and Daniel Moffitt.

Due to the previous resource consent process, a lot of the engineering work has already been done.

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Todd Property Group was planning to build two 28.5-metre towers, which would each have 18 apartments, as well as 21 terraced homes, six standalone houses, and five freehold lots.

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'The company has asked us to bring the Napier site to the market so that other developers can have a look at it and develop it properly,' Geange said.

'They (the vendors) are really leaving it open for creativity for a modern residential development which is really exciting for Napier.'

A resource consent was granted for original owners Todd Property Group which bought the property in 2011.

With limited land available on Napier Hill, the site is accessible and flat.

It was planning to build two 28.5-metre towers, which would each have 18 apartments, as well as 21 terraced homes, six standalone houses, and five freehold lots.

Geange said the property was currently entering the Bayley's national portfolio for commercial property.

'We're already fielding a lot of inquiries and there's a lot of interest in the site coming both from regional developers and out-out-town developers.'

'There's been a lot of interest in Hawke's Bay too because of what's happening with property and the lack of supply.'

'The great thing about this is that there's very limited land available on Napier Hill and what is available is often very steep, but because of its history and its nature, it's already very accessible and very flat. '

Geange said due to the previous resource consent process, a lot of the engineering work had already been done.

'Whoever purchases this site will also have access to all that information. Usually it's something that would hold a lot of risks for a developer as well as taking a lot of time.'

Geange said real estate continued to be sought after in Hawke's Bay due to its strong economy, tourism and agriculture.

'We've seen that there's a lot of demand for industrial property which means people have confidence in the economy and when there's confidence, people often upgrade the houses they live in, and with interest rates so low money has never been more available.

'The region used to be quite isolated, but you've got the airport which flies to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Hawke's Bay is a far more mature and almost sub-metropolitan community we're living in now.'

The original sale of the old hospital returned $5.1 million to the Hawke's Bay District Health Board in 2011.